Call them the green astronauts.
The commander and payload commander of the space shuttle Endeavour, newly arrived on terra firma Tuesday, sounded like environmental activists as they spoke about radar observations of the Earth and its resources."We are happy and proud to be part of the mission to Planet Earth and the space radar lab, hopefully helping us to understand our planet and how we should live on it to make it better," said Mission Commander Michael Baker.
The payload commander, Thomas Jones, said the astronauts were able to discern fire scars from burning oil wells in Kuwait and changes in vegetation
color. The astronauts spoke during a news conference five hours after Endeavour and its crew of six made a flawless landing in the Mojave Desert.
Endeavour's 11-day radar-mapping and environmental research mission revealed "changes in the forest, changes in agriculture, changes in the soil moisture and the snow content of the watersheds that we all live in," Jones
said. He said the mission also provided new information on what happens when carbon materials released from burning fuel sources reach Earth's atmosphere.
The shuttle's three-dimensional radar - which can penetrate thick clouds, vegetation, sand and fog - studied mountains, volcanoes, oceans, deserts and forests. Scientists learned that the radar is sensitive enough to distinguish between oil spills and algae sheen in the North Sea.